Carriage escapement device



Dec. 19; 1944.

CARRIAGE ES CAPEMENT DEVICE Filed Dec. 14, 1943 INVENTOR BENJAMIN GRADY BY 4 &

\ ATTORNEY B. GRADY 2,365,189

Patented Dec. 19, 1944 UNITED STAT ES PAT ENT OFFICE CARRIAGE ESCAPEMENT DEVICE Benjamin Grady, Washington, D. 0. Application December 14; 1943, Serial No. 514,292

(Granted under the act of 'March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes.

understanding of this invention that it may be used to advantage in other types of machines having a shiftable carriage and requiring a device to control the escapement movement of the carriage across the machine.

A well known form of tabulating card has a series of' evenly spaced columns to be provided with data by a punching machine. Conventional and well-known tabulating card punching machines usually have a carriage for advancing a card to position the individualcard columns opposite the machine punching dies, the card carriage being advanced under the controlof an escapement device. Heretofore, the escapement device has comprised an escapement rack and askip bar. The escap'ement rack enabled the card carriage to be advanced step by step for positioning the card columns opposite the punching dies and in the order the columns appear on the card. The skip bar was carried by the escapement rack and so controlled the carriage operation that certain card fields or columns would skip the punching dies and therefore would not be punched. This skip bar heretofore has been provided in the form of a solid bar having notches in its lower edgefor temporary mounting on headed pins projecting from the escapement rack, The upper edge of the skip bar heretofore has been machined to provide depressed portions opposite the escapement teeth of the escapement rack for the card fields (columns) tobe punched and raised (integral) portions opposite the escapement teeth for the card fields to be skipped. Thus the card carriage would have normal single column escapementin the card fields corresponding to the depressions in the skip barand would have a plural column escapement in the card fields corresponding to the raised portions in the skip bar,

The described conventional skip bar has proven to be relatively expensive, since it must be precisely formed and is designed for only one escapement pattern. For each new or-difierent escapement pattern, a new skip bar is required and has to bemanufactured and mounted on the escapement rack. As an illustration, let it be assumed that a tabulating card punching machine has been operating with a skip bar which provides for card columns I through 5, 9 through 12, and I8 through 25, to be punched individually in a normal single column escapement and for card columns 6 through 8 and I3 through I], to be skipped in two plural column escapements. If the punching machine is next to be operated with cards in which columns ii through 8 and I3 through ii are the only columns to be punched, a new skip bar must be manufactured and installed in the machine to replace the one previously used, which is frequently discarded or lost. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a carriage escapement device. which has a readily adjustableescapement pattern;

Another object is to provide a carriage escapement device comprising an escapement rack and a skip bar which may be united to form a permanent assembly, and means. which may be rmovably positioned on and locked to the skip "bar to provide any desired escapement pattern.

Still another object i to provide a novel carriage escapement device having a skip bar, removable escapement pattern pins, and efficient means for locking the pins to the skip bar.

Other objects and'advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following specification, the. appended claims, and the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of'a'tabulating card punching machine embodying the present invention. Fig. 1 illustrates a carriage escapement device of the present invention and so much of a conventional punching machine as is necessary to an understanding of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view on enlarged scale of the escapement rack, the skip bar, the escapement pattern pins',"and pin locking means of Fig. 1, parts being brokenaway inFig. 2 for purposes of illustration;

Figs. 3 and 4 are elevational'viewsof two of the pinsof Figs. 1 and 2. f

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line 66.of Fig. 2. It will be noted that the views of Figs. 5 and 6 are identical except that the pin and the locking needle of Fig. 6 are omitted in Fig, 5'. Fig. 7 is an exploded view of'the escapementf rack, the skip bar, and the'pin locking'needle of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 illustrates a tabulating card punching machine havin a conventional base ill, which slidably supports a 1 then move together relative to the machine base or frame In. i

The carriage II also includes a conventional escapement rack l4 having its upper edge formed with the usual escapement teeth l6 (one tooth for each column of the tabulating card) and its lower edge formed with the usual gear teeth H. A carriage handle l8 enables the machine operator to shift manually the carriage ll toward the right hand end of the machine (Fig. 1) to prepare the machine for a tabulating card punching operation. The drive for the carriage H in the reverse direction (see arrow in Fig. l) is provided by a conventional spring-controlled gear (not shown) which meshes with the gear teeth H of the escapement rack l4.

Other conventional machine parts illustrated in Fig. 1 include a locking pawl i8, an escapement pawl I 9. and the skip lever 2|. The locking pawl l8 engages a tooth P of the rack l4 and locks the carriage H against movement during each punching operation of the machine, at which time the escapement pawl l9 and the rack M are disengaged. The escapement pawl l9, when it engages a tooth iii of the bar l4, permits a onetooth movement of the bar l4 and a correspond ing (one card column) movement of the carriage H. Normally, the pawls I8 and I3 alternate in their engagement with the rack M to provide a single column escapement movement of the carriage relative to the conventional bridge 20 which supports the usual key-controlled punches (not shown). The skip lever 2| is supported and operates in conventional manner to control the escapement pawl IQ for plural column escapement movements of the card carriage The skip lever 2| is controlled by escapement pattern pins 4| in a skip bar 3|. This skip bar 3| at its inner side or face 36 and from one end to the opposite end is provided with a channel escapement rack I 4, each pin socket 33 is opposite a tooth Hi. The axes of the sockets 33, in a pre ferred embodiment of this invention and as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, are perpendicular to the upper face or edge 34 of the skip bar 3| and extend in a plane parallel to the skip bar face 36 in which the channel 32 is formed. 4 Each of the escapement pattern pins 4| has a head 42 and a shank 43. The shank 43 is adapted to fit snugly any one of the sockets 33. The extent that a shank 43 may be inserted into a socket 33 is limited by the pin head 42 (see Fig. 6) which has a diameter or size somewhat larger than the diameter of a socket 33L The pin shanks 43 are preferably of circular cross-section or cylindrical shape to conform to the cylindrical shape of the sockets 33. Each pin shank 43 intermediate the opposite ends thereof is provided with a notch or peripheral groove 44 (Fig. 6).

The channel 32 extends in parallel relation to the skip bar face or edge 34 and is spaced therefrom a distance corresponding to the spacing of the groove 44 and the head-42 of a pattern pin 4|. The channel 32 also overlaps or intersects a side of each of the sockets 33, as illustrated in Fig. 5. This intersection results from the channel 32 having a depth (horizontal dimension in Fig. 5) which is greater than the spacing of the sockets 33 relative to the skip bar face 36, but which is less than the spacing of the axes of the sockets 33 relative to the skip bar face 36.

The skip bar 3| is secured to the escapement rack l4, as by means of rivets 3! (Fig. 2), with the skip bar face 36 abutting a side face of the escapement bar Hi, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. In this assembled relation, the escapement rack |4 closes the open side of the skip bar channel 32, and the rack M and the bar 3| form a passage which is open at one or both ends of the skip bar 3| to receive the locking needle 5| in a longitudinal, sliding movement. The needle-receiving passage (and also the channel 32) is conveniently formed with a square cross-section which conforms closely to the diameter of the locking needle 5|. Th locking needle 5| is preferably of circular cross-section, but may be of square or other suitable cross-sectional shape. The needle 5| should be of such cross-sectional shape that when inserted into the passage formed by the channel 32, the needle 5| engages the inner side face of the escapement bar l4 and extends laterally therefrom into each of the sockets 33 and into each of the grooves 44 of pins 4| positioned in the skip bar sockets 33. The needle 5| then will lock each pin 4i, which is seated in a socket 33, to the skip bar 3| and the escapement rack id.

One end 52 of the needle 5| is pointed to facilitate its placement in pin-locking position. The other needle end 53 is angularly bent to serve as a handle and to act as a stop for preventing such insertion of the needle that it may not be readily removed from the channel 42 when desired.

The escapement device of this invention is characterized by its adaptability to form as many escapement patterns as there are possible combinations of the pin sockets 33. When use of the machine requires a change in its escapment pattern, any or all of the pins 4| may be removed from the skip bar 3| after they are released by removal of the locking needle 5|; A desired esscapement pattern is then secured by inserting a number of the pins 4| in selected sockets 33. A pin 4| is inserted in each socket 33 which corresponds to a card column (not shown) that is not to be punched. Each socket 33 which corresponds to a card column (not shown) that is to be punched remains unoccupied.

The pin shanks 33 are all of the same form and construction. Some of the pin heads 42' (see Fig. l) are tapered to serve as skip lever cams. The other pin heads 42 (Figs. 3 and 6) have flat tops and act as elevated rest for the skip lever 2|. When a single card column is to be skinned and is located between two card columns to be punched, the socket 33 corresponding to the column to be skipped is provided with a pin 4| hav me a tapered head 42', as in Fig. 4. When a group of columns are to be skipped and form a continuous field, the socket 33 corresponding to the leading column in the advance of the card carriage H is provided with a pin 4| of the type illustrated in Fig. 4. 'Ihe sockets 33 corresponding to the remainder of the columns in the field to be skipped are provided with pins 4| having flat top heads, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6.

The skip lever 2| is adapted and mounted. according to conventional practice, for two movements. The skip bar 2| is longitudinally shiftable in the conventional punching machine by one or more of the machine keys (not shown). In its retracted position (Fig. 1), the skip lever 2| has its outer end 22 resting on the machine frame edge 23 and is not engaged by the pins 4| rests on the frameedge 23 and the escapement pawl I9 is free for normal single column escapement action with the rack l4. When the carriage II has advanced'to such position that a pin 4| having a tapered head 42' (Fig. 4) engages the portion 24 of the lever 2|, the head 42' exerts a camming action on the lever 2| and raises the lever 2| to elevate the escapement pawl l9 into a position in which it (IS) disengages the escapement rack M. This elevated position of the lever 2| and the pawl I9 is maintained as long as a pin 4| is below the projected lever 2|. When a continuous series of sockets 33 are provided with pins 4| having flat top heads 42, as in Figs. 3 and 6, the projected lever 2| rests on the pin heads 42 and is maintained in elevated position as the pin heads 42 pass under the lever 2| during an advancing movement of the carriage 'Thus a continuous series of pins 4| is adapted to cause an escapement of the card carriage whereby the corresponding field of card columns isskipped; that is, .the columns in the skipped field do not come to rest opposite the punching dies and therefore are not punched. Whenever the skip lever 2| is held in raised position by a pin 4|, the escapement pawl I9 is prevented from engaging the escapement teeth l6 and the card carriage is free to advance continuously. Advance of the carriage is arrested when the skip lever 2| is lowered or the limit of movement of the carriage H is reached. The skip lever 2| is lowered by gravity action as soon as it is overan empty socket 33. It is now apparent that the setting of the pins 4| determines the escapement pattern, a pin 4| being set in each socket 33 corresponding to a card column which is not to be punched.

It is to be understood that the foregoing is illustrative since this invention includes all modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carriage escapement device comprising: means provided with escapement teeth, gear teeth, a row of sockets, and a passage extending along said row of sockets, said passage intersecting and opening into each of said sockets; a series of interchangeable, notched pins for selective setting in said sockets; and a needle adapted for insertion into said passage for such positioning therein that said needle extends into the notch of each of the pins in said sockets and thereby locks said pins to said-means.

2. A carriage escapement device comprising: a skip bar, an escapement rack, a row-of sockets in said skip bar, a series of interchangeable pins, each of said pins having a notched shank for selective positioning in said sockets, and a pinlocking needle, said bar being adapted to have said needle inserted therein and shifted axially to pass into the notches in the shanks of pins set in said sockets to lock the engaged pins to said skip bar.

3. A carriage escapement device comprising: a

in, the axes of said sockets extending in a plane parallel to the plane of a face of said bar,'a plurality of pins, each pin having a head of larger diameter than a bar socket and a cylindrical shank-adapted to be received in a bar socket, said shank having intermediate the ends thereof a peripheral groove, said bar face having a channel therein of a depth greater thanthe spacing of said sockets relative to said bar face and less than the spacing of the axes of said sockets relative to said bar face, a locking needle slidably and removably received within said channel, and an escapement rack secured to said bar to close the open side of said channel, said sockets, shanks, grooves, channel and needle being so related that the pin shanks are adapted to be selectively positioned in said sockets with the heads seated on the mouths of said sockets and that the needle is adapted to be inserted endwise into said channel and in its inserted position to extend through the shank grooves of all pins inserted in said sockets and thereby-lock said pins in said sockets.

' 4. A carriageescapement device comprising: a

skip bar having a row of cylindrical sockets therein, the axes of said sockets being perpendicular to one face of said bar and extending in a plane parallel to the plane of a second face of said bar, a plurality of pins, each pin having a head of larger diameter than a bar socket and a cylindrical shank adapted to be inserted into any one of said sockets, said shank having a peripheral groove spaced from said head; said second bar face having a longitudinally extending channel therein of a depth greater than the spacing of said sockets relative to said second bar face and less than the spacing of the axes of said'sockets relative to said second bar face, said channel opening into each of said sockets and being spaced from said one bar face a distance corresponding to the spacing of said pin head and shank groove,

- an escapement rack secured to said bar to close skip bar having a row of cylindrical sockets therethe open side of said channel, and a locking needle adapted to be removably received within said channel and to slide endwise therein to a position in which said needle extends through the shank grooves of all pins inserted in said sockets and thereby locks said pins to said skip bar.

5. For use with an escapement rack of a carriage escapement device, the combination comprising: a skip bar having a row of cylindrical sockets therein, the axes of said sockets being perpendicular to one face of said bar and extending in a plane parallel to the plane of a second face of said bar, a plurality of pins, each pin having a head of larger diameter than a bar socketand a cylindrical shank adapted to be inserted into any one of said sockets, said shank having a peripheral groove spaced from said head; said second bar face having a longitudinally extending channel therein of a depth greater than the spacing of said sockets relative to said second bar face and less than the spacing of the axes of said sockets relative to said second bar face, said channel opening into each of said sockets and being spaced from said one bar face a distance corresponding to the spacing of said pin head and shank groove, and a locking needle adapted to be removably received within said channel and to slide endwise therein to a position in which said said pins to said skip bar.

BENJAMIN GRADY. 

